In shipping and storing goods, a flexible stock material such as a plastic stretch film can be used to protect and secure a load. The advantages of the use of stock materials are numerous. The stock material produces a tight wrap and protects the wrapped load from damage due to weather, abrasions, punctures, and the like.
To utilize the stock material in an optimum manner, the material must be applied to the load at an appropriate tension. If the material is stretched too tight, the material will be difficult to wrap about the load and may break or tear. If the tension in the material is insufficient, the material will not conform to the shape of the load and the material wrap will be undesirably loose.
A number of devices have been developed for controlling the tension applied to the stock material during application of the material to a load. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,722,493; 4,834,312; 4,872,623 and 5,203,517 show examples of such devices. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 4,834,312 discloses a device having a head of a size and shape to be forceably inserted into a core. Fixedly projecting from the head is a handle in the form of a spindle. The spindle carries a flexible grip in which the spindle normally freely rotates and which the flexible grip may be selectively squeezed to vary the friction between the grip and the spindle, thus varying the tension in the stock material being applied. Specifically, the grip includes a split cylindrical member telescoped over the spindle. The split cylindrical member may be readily deformed, compressed, by squeezing the same to vary the gripping of the spindle by the split cylindrical member, thus varying the resistance to rotation of the spindle within and relative to the split cylindrical member.
Like U.S. Pat. No. 4,834,312, the remaining above-referenced patents disclose a one-handed device for dispensing a flexible stock material. Each employs a mechanism for varying the tension placed on the material as the material is applied to a load. However, the tension control mechanism for each is located on the gripping portion of the device. Thus, the tension on the material may be increased inadvertently by applying a firm grip to the gripping portion of the device.
Additionally, by placing the tension control mechanism on the gripping surface, there is limited surface area available for gripping the device without affecting the tension applied to the material. Thus, there is a need for a dispensing tool that permits a user to grip the entire handle of the device firmly without affecting the tension placed on the material.